The Lighthouses of Long Island Sound

Published: July 28, 1996

(Page 2 of 2)

All the hard work paid off. ''Race Rock Lighthouse is probably the most important aid to navigation in the Sound,'' said Captain Rathbun. ''It was very well built, and it's stood up very well.'' He came to know it well, as did an earlier Rathbun. ''I spent many years fishing in close proximity to it,'' he said. Then he read an 1898 newspaper account that began: ''Captain Elmer Rathbun is ashore from Race Rock Lighthouse and reports a very hard night of the Blizzard.''

Crusing along at 15 knots, the Sunbeam Express passed Fishers Island, where big, expensive homes line the shore. In the 18th century, horses were raised on the island, for export to Barbados. ''In exchange for rum,'' Captain Rathbun explained.

Also sighted were the little islands now bearing the names North and South Dumpling. Captain Rathbun scorns these as ''cutesy'' new monikers for what used to be North and South Hummock.

North Hummock's (or Dumpling's) 19th-century lighthouse -- where keepers spent the 1938 hurricane huddled in a kitchen addition, as half the island washed away -- is no longer active and has become a private home.

A 1970's owner added such curiosity-arousing touches as a row of stone columns that he called the Temple of the Four Winds. ''We always wondered what was going on -- what strange rituals,'' said Captain Rathbun. He added that the present owner, who has also added a windmill, ''calls himself Lord Dumpling.''

Next came another sparkplug, Latimers Reef Lighthouse, built in 1893. Captain Rathbun considered the keeper's existence there. ''It had to be like living in a tin can,'' he said.

One passenger came especially to see this site. ''I came because I was dying to see Latimers Reef. My maiden name is Latimer,'' said Marlene Latimer Bondurant, who lives in Alexandria, Va., and belongs to several lighthouse societies.

Many passengers were aficionados of lighthouses, and some rarely got to view any. ''You don't see a lot of lighthouses on Lake Michigan,'' said Eve Stokes of Lisle, Ill. Others were along mostly for the ride. ''It's just a way to get out and enjoy the Sound,'' said Dorothy Phillips of Willimantic.

In the Sunbeam's cabin, Rosalie Rathbun was -- as usual -- selling copies of her husband's book (for $10 each).

The cruise continued almost to the 1856 Watch Hill Lighthouse on the Rhode Island shore. Captain Rathbun talked of long-ago patrols in the area, on stormy nights. ''The guys used to tramp along the beach, in their heavy boots and everything, to look for vessels in distress,'' he said. (There were many, over the years.)

As the Sunbeam headed home, passengers could see Napatree Point (site of Fort Mansfield, another 1890's defense project), Ram Island (now a private estate, but once a camping spot for adventuresome Noank youngsters) and the communities of Stonington, Mystic, and Noank. Captain Rathbun told of the ''superbly reliable'' Thaddeus Pecor, who from 1871 to 1919 was the keeper of Noank Lighthouse on Morgan Point. Shortly after Mr. Pecor's retirement, the light was replaced by a harbor beacon, and the lighthouse is now a private home.

Pequot Lighthouse, on Pequot Avenue in New London, is also a private home, but a light still shines atop its tall, white, octagonal column. The lighthouse was built in 1800, on the foundation of its 1762 predecessor. ''It's got 119 steps inside,'' said Captain Rathbun.

He looked out at New London Ledge Lighthouse, the last on the cruise. ''This is the newest of the lights we've seen today,'' he said, of the three-story brick building that's been a stately presence at the mouth of the Thames River since 1910.

The Sunbeam docked at Captain John's Sport Fishing Center in Waterford. Captain Rathbun will be back there on Aug. 3, for this summer's last lighthouse cruise.

Photos: From the decks of Sunbeam Express, out of Waterford, Capt. Benjamin F. Rathbun offers insight on the lighthouses once staffed by keepers and their families. Among them: Orient Point (top and far left, bottom), Little Gull and Race Rock (far left, top and middle) as well as Noank (left) and Watch Hill (above). (Photographs by Thomas McDonald for The New York Times)